State should back Fota, says Coveney

The agriculture minister believes the State should provide financial support for ambitious expansion plans at Fota Wildlife Park in Cork.

Simon Coveney was speaking yesterday as he opened Fota’s new €4.7m Asian Sanctuary — a 27-acre expansion which increases the size of one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions to some 100 acres.

Fota Wildlife Park chairman Neil O’Carroll said the opening of the first two phases of this new sanctuary is the most significant development since the park opened in 1983.